Had a client cancel on me last minute, so I’ll take this opportunity to write a few words down for you to stare at instead of doing whatever it is you usually do at this time on a Friday….
First this:
1 – Cat saves boy from Dog Attack!
http://jezebel.com/worlds-most-awesome-cat-rescues-little-boy-from-dog-att-1576276526
Now I’m definitely a Dog man, but I’ve had a cat in the past. But see this cat? It’s bloody Ninja!
A take away point with some relevance to fitness training and all round awesomeness?
Commitment.
Identify the problem (in this case, a dog is attacking my best buddy) Formulate a plan (take out the dog) Execute the plan with maximum aggression (dog gets taken out) Move onto next thing
You don’t have to be a cat attacking a dog to learn something from this, but you can learn.
In your fitness training, have you identified your problems? Are your glutes not firing? Has your progress stalled? Are you moving towards your goal?
If so, have you formulated a plan to fix this?
Are you now executing that plan like your life depends on it?
2 – Book Review
Mr Gan Power of Tramore Tactical Fitness and Tramore Kettlebell Club has just reviewed my Fighting Back eBook. You can read it by clicking the image:
3 – A really cool article in the New York Times called “You Walk Wrong – How We’re Wrecking Our Feet Wih Every Step We Take”
Now, this is ironic that I am reading this just after the people behind the Vibram 5-finger shoe are being sued for false claims about the effects of barefoot simulation shoes. So they took the message and spun it out to make money, well, hopefully they’re now learning their lesson because, as the NY Times points out, our feet are designed to move and shoes are preventing this happening. However, taking a knee jerk response and simply shedding your shoes and going out pounding the pavement bare foot, is just as bad! These athletes and tribesmen that run barefoot their whole lives, have run barefoot their whole lives. They don’t sit for 8-10 hours a day and then strap on their Nikes to pound out 10 miles on concrete. No, they have run about in their bare feet since they could walk. You on the other hand were put in shoes and told not to run in the corridors. So to suddenly jump up and start running, especially over uniform concrete surfaces, is a recipe for disaster. You want to run barefoot or in minimalist footwear? Good, but get out to the woods and the hills and do it. Break in slowly Don’t throw out your other runners, still use them.
The problem, in my opinion, is not really the shoe at all. It’s the way we move and what we move on. Back when I lived in the English Lake District I used to run the fells, along with some of the knarliest bastards ever to lace up. These guys were balls of sinew, barely human at all. They hardly ever ran on roads or any flat, even surface and other than twisted ankles, they as a group seemed to have fewer leg or running related issues than the road runners. Why?
Uneven terrain forces you to constantly adapt, to constantly change stride length, stride frequency, ground contact times, weight shift. In fact no two steps will be the same. Whereas on road, each step is like groundhog day. Can you say “Pattern Overload” or how about “Repetitive Strain Injury” ?
Running doesn’t injure you. Shoes don’t injure you (unless their really don’t fit, or are simply stupid) The way you run and what you run on is what injures you.
Oh, I suppose I’d better post a link to the article, click the image:
Regards
Dave Hedges www.WG-Fit.com
Comments